On Thursday night, every Jewish WhatsApp group lit up with horrific videos coming out of Amsterdam. A roving mob of Arabs carried out a coordinated attack on Jews in what amounted to a pogrom. This was eerily timed around the anniversary of Kristallnacht and is a shocking reminder of Europe’s dark history and its fragile present.
Europe has been on a downward spiral for a generation, when governments led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to open their doors to Muslim Arabs. Unlike America, European countries were never designed to be anything but a homogenous society based on thousands of years of unifying history. It is not possible to assimilate hundreds of thousands of Arabs into Dutch, French, German or British society without major changes in how those societies function. We are seeing the fruits of those catastrophic decisions.
What was seen in Amsterdam is as predictable as anything, given the history of the city and the trends that have been occurring since October 7. This is the home city of Anne Frank, whose diary captured the fear of living in a city she loved but could no longer recognize. That is pretty much indicative of what Europe is becoming, a continent that is beloved by many but increasingly unrecognizable.
The attacks followed a pro-Palestinian protest that quickly escalated in the wake of a soccer match between Amsterdam’s Ajax team and the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv. Despite a protest ban put in place by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, violence broke out after supporters gathered, with some groups chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and targeting Jewish individuals and Israeli fans in what some observers have called a “pogrom-like” atmosphere.
Graphic videos of the violence, shared on social media, show attackers physically confronting people suspected of being Jewish or pro-Israel. In one video posted by the Instagram account week.4palestinenl, a man, apparently forced into a river, is pressured to chant “free Palestine” while struggling in the water. The video was captioned with, “A zionist got a free swimming lesson… Who’s street? Oh yeah, our street,” which sparked outrage across various communities.
Additional videos from the same account show demonstrators marching with torches and Palestinian flags, with captions accusing the Amsterdam authorities of repressing their voices in support of Gaza. Despite a police presence and some arrests, violence persisted in parts of the city as tensions flared, reportedly affecting multiple locations.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the attacks, expressing his deep concern for Israeli citizens’ safety in Amsterdam. Israel arranged for two planes to evacuate Israelis from the city, emphasizing the urgent need to protect them. Netanyahu urged the Dutch government to take strong and immediate action to ensure public safety and prevent further violence.
Leftwing outlets in America were quick to downplay the violence. A New York Times headline read, “Violence Tied to Soccer Game Prompts Dozens of Arrests in Amsterdam.” Medhi Hassan, who recently got very offended on CNN because he was called a terrorist sympathizer, sympathized with the terrorists by claiming this was an act of “hooligans” and not a targeted attack against Jews.
The riots continued in Amsterdam, as Monday night saw horrific videos of burning buildings and mobs shouting “Kankerjoden,” which means “Cancer Jews.” This is the logical result of spending a year claiming that chants like “globalize the intifada” were simply passionate voices of those protesting the war in Gaza. Those were the kind of people who Kamala Harris claimed that she “understand where they are coming from.” Thankfully, she’ll never be in a position of power again.
It’s not just Amsterdam, though. This week has seen a troubling wave of violent antisemitic attacks across multiple cities. In Dublin, a Jewish student was cornered in a bar bathroom by three men who, after confirming his Jewish identity, beat him severely. In New York’s Crown Heights, a visibly Jewish child was nearly kidnapped while walking with his father, and in a separate incident, a 13-year-old Jewish boy was slapped by an older man on his way to school. At Chicago’s DePaul University, two Jewish students were attacked by masked men while they staffed a table inviting peaceful dialogue about Israel. In another disturbing assault, a visibly Jewish man in New York City was slashed in the face by an assailant who shouted an expletive at him, leaving the victim needing 18 stitches. These incidents reflect a sharp escalation in hostility and violence against Jewish individuals in various communities around the world.
These stories are getting too common for comfort. While everyone took a hiatus from any other news that wasn’t surrounding the U.S. election, Jew-haters never took a break. The war is far from over, although the facts on the ground have changed drastically since the election results were announced. It will take a lot of work at home and abroad to quell this violence against the Jewish population, and the Jewish people must be the tip of the spear of that work. No one else is going to do it for us.
By Moshe Hill
